


To the rescue

by Prawnperson



Category: Don’t Starve (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fights, Gore, I’ve been so excited to write this one, Maybe - Freeform, Spiders, Violence, Walani has super low HP so I tried to translate this into her being kind of susceptible to boss mobs, injuries, please don’t worry about Warly he’s fine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 10:52:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19355563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prawnperson/pseuds/Prawnperson
Summary: Spiders are dangerous if you’re taken by surprise.





	To the rescue

“WHERE IS SHE?”

WX-78 asks. This has gotten silly now, really, it has. Wilson and Willow turn over to them and make sympathetic and annoyed faces respectively.

“I’ve told you, WX. Walani and Warly went out to hunt spiders.”

“I KNOW. THAT WAS THIS MORNING.”

They reply. The sun is starting to sink in the sky. Sure, there are another few hours left, but they still don’t like the thought of it. They also don’t like the thought of those two setting up camp alone.

Wilson gives a polite little hush and turns back to the fire pit.

“If they aren’t back by morning we’ll go looking. Don’t stress about it, alright?”

WX-78 walks away without responding, Willow rolling her eyes at their back. Rude, but certainly not as abrupt as they have been. Wilson thinks of it as a little victory. Neither of the notice WX packing up their backpack with all the items needed for a short adventure.

———

WX goes from walking, to jogging, and finally to sprinting the further they get from the camp. Something about this feels very, very wrong. They know for a fact that Warly hates creepy crawlies of all kinds-minus Webber-and that Walani wouldn’t do a stroke of work if given the chance. Why would they stay out so late? Spider farming is nothing difficult, given they were smart about it. Hell, even the little fleshling and her spectral sister could take out a nest on their own.

They aren’t sure how far away they are from camp whenever they hear a wail. A faint but still shiver-inducing shriek that rings through their head and sends their systems into overdrive. They follow the sound instinctively, wielding the glass cutter in their hands. The closer they get, the louder the screams get, a male voice mixing in to the cries. WX reaches the edge of a patch of lumpy evergreens and cautiously peers out, eyes widening in alarm at the sight.

There’s a spider colony like they’ve never seen before. Some great unholy tangle of nests and eggs and webs that makes them feel downright sick. So much organic life concentrated in one place, and such horrible examples of it, too. 

Some ways towards the centre of the webbing they spot them. Warly and Walani, tangled in seemingly inescapable webs and yelling out. Just a few centimetres away the carcass of a spider queen lies, legs curled up and frigid, seeping purple blood onto the matted webbing of the floor. Crawling over the pair, WX sees the second queen. 

They should be smart about this, but are unsure how much time they have left. The spider queen looks as if she’s readying herself to do...something, Warly and Walani’s screams growing louder and more desperate by the second. WX makes their move and crouches down, sneaking towards the outskirts of the webbing, their toes just barely hemming along it. The spider queen looms ever closer to the two humans, opening its mouth and leaning in dangerously close to them. Walani lets out a pleading shriek. The Queen turns behind her as pressure is put on the webbing and a cut is slashed down the back of her abdomen. 

WX cries out in anger and slashes at the queen, violently ripping at her with the blade. They kick and swipe at the spiders, sending them into curling husks as quickly as possible. There’s a strange, frenzied energy to their combat as WX mows down the spiders, the glass cutter going through them like a hot knife through butter. The queen is quick to produce more, and WX is just as quick to send them the way of their siblings. The oncoming flash of green signals a warrior spider. WX just barely rolls away from it as it leaps, sinking it’s fangs into empty air. WX strokes the blade over it, seemingly effortlessly, and the spider splits into halves. The glass cutter shatters in their hands after that impressive performance, leaving them to duck underneath the queen, ripping out the spear they have mounted on their back and shoving it deep into her underbelly. The giant spider calls out for more help, but she is growing weaker. WX twists the spear further in, grunting before using their full strength to pierce up through the Queen’s back. With a horrific roar, she topples to the ground, leaving WX to cut through the remaining spiders until the webbing is littered with arachnid corpses.

Slowly and gingerly, only just now noticing that some strands of wiring have been ripped out from their leg, they make their way over to the two tied up humans. Both are staring at them in varying degrees of shock. They ignore Warly other than a quick, precautionary glance over to make sure he isn’t completely dead. Alas, not.

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

They kneel down by Walani, holding the spear as if it were a makeshift knife. They cut Warly out first, knowing full well he would whine if they didn’t, before turning back to free her from the silky prison. The spear rips down the front of the webbing, tight as rope. Walani pushes her way outwards and wraps her arms around WX, squeezing almost impossibly tight.

“I thought we were going to die!”

She yells, pressing bloodied palms against WX’s back. They fumble for a moment, unsure of wether to be disgusted or tolerant, before settling with wrapping their arms around her waist. Warly looks at the ground, picking away strands of sticky webbing from his clothing.

“We should get back now, no?”

WX glares at him and Walani hides further into their neck. 

“WE’LL LEAVE SOON.”

He knows full well what that means. With a sigh, Warly clambers to his feet and begins collecting the spider loot from of the ground as WX looks Walani over for injuries.

———

WX tips Walani out onto her bedroll as soon as they get back to camp, ignoring the fuss from the others as they crowd Warly, who immediately collapses onto a log beside the fire pit and mourns the absence of dinner. 

Walani mumbles something incomprehensible, already drowsy and warm as spider venom courses through her veins. Everything feels like it’s spinning, the one grounding sensation the cool metal palm pressed against her forehead.

“YOU’RE OVERHEATING.”

WX observes, smearing something cold and sticky against one of the clean wounds on her neck. She hums at the feeling, the salve cooling some of the burning enough for it to be comfortable. She briefly wonders if she’s taken any antivenom. She feels like she has, but she can’t remember making any. Funny.

“SHOW ME YOUR ARMS.”

They command. Walani weakly lifts her arms up, hands curled into fists. They run their eyes over the grazes, deeming them minor enough to be left to heal on their own. Her pulse feels weak when they brush over it. Fragile, almost.

“ARE YOU HURT ANYWHERE ELSE?”

Walani nods and fumbles the hem of her shirt up, revealing two sharp gashes next to the still healing scar across her front. WX lets out a hissing sound at the sight of them, cautiously pressing some of the healing salve into the woods. She whimpers and turns her head to the side, too tired to protest but too awake to stay quiet.

"My leg hurts..”

She points towards the rip in her trousers just across the knee, a dark red scratch present on the skin. 

"WHY DON'T YOU ASK WILSON TO FIX IT?"

WX remarks. Walani makes a confused noise but they don't respond as they tend the wound. 

“I’M DONE.”

Walani sighs through her nose, clutching limply at WX’s wrist as they fix papyrus over the slashes.

“Don’t go...”

The robot scoffs and presses firmly against the bandages, trying their best not to make her flinch.

“I’M NOT YOUR MOTHER. I GO WHERE I PLEASE.”

They reply. They do, however, stay sitting in her tent as she falls into a hazy sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has any ideas for what these two could do you know where to tell me.


End file.
